When Claude and his wife bought their house more than forty years ago in Cormeilles-en-Parisis (Val d'Oise), they never imagined for a moment that they would one day experience a "sound" hell on a daily basis. .
Because gradually since the beginning of the 1980s, air traffic has intensified above their heads.
“We are right under one of the corridors used by planes in the landing phase towards Roissy airport”, specifies the retired couple.
Every day, about 400 aircraft fly over their house.
Some aircraft models are also noisier than others.
"In particular the Airbus A320, which makes a deafening vroom," notes Claude.
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More sensitive than his wife to noise pollution, he often locks himself in his cellar where he has fitted out an extra bed.
“It's especially in summer, when it's hot and you have to sleep with the windows open.
My earplugs are no longer enough.
So when the traffic picks up again around 5 a.m., I end my night here, under my house, ”explains this former postman.
The couple considered moving for a long time.
“But our house, we love it.
We have invested so much in it.
We also have our children, our friends... It's heartbreaking to imagine leaving everything, ”says Brigitte.
During the last meetings of the association for the defense against air pollution (Advocnar), the couple saw new members burst into tears.
“Real estate agents don't brag about it.
But people who bought during the Covid discovered the pot of roses only once the traffic resumed, ”laments Claude.
“It's horrible to say that, but the confinement was a wonderful moment for us, continues Brigitte.
We could enjoy our garden, quiet.
We could only hear the chirping of the birds.